Gerry Adams's Blog, page 11

At St Comgall's, Eileen's shining vision becomes a reality: A New look at the Cinema and Unionism

 

At St Comgall's, Eileen's shining vision becomes areality

St. Comgall’s/Ionad Eileen Howell in Divis St. willbe formally opened next week on Thursday the 22 June. In honour and memory ofEileen the refurbished building is being named after her.

 Themulti-million pound project has been 21 years in the making. The transformationof what was for many years a derelict building has been amazing. All of thosewho have contributed in any way to its successful renovation should be veryproud of their efforts.

Just over 20 years ago St. Comgall’s, which standsin the shadow of Divis Tower, had fallen into a scandalous state of disrepair.It was regularly targeted by anti-social elements and the building was a blighton the local community and environment.  As the MP for west Belfast I spoketo Eileen Howell in the Falls Community Council about the possibility ofturning St. Comgall’s into a community enterprise – similar to Conway Mill –that could be a resource for the community and create sustainable jobs.

Eileen was an experienced community activistand champion for West Belfast who put her considerable energy intotackling the endemic inequalities and injustices endured by the nationalistwest Belfast community. She was irrepressible, tireless and hugely respected asa champion of the rights of citizens and of the community. She had adeep-rooted belief in the imperatives of equality and human rights, and ofeconomic and social justice. These were her guiding principles. She was awarrior for working people. 

Eileen saw the enormous potential of St.Comgall’s and she and the Board of the Falls Community Council jumped at theopportunity to regenerate and develop St. Comgall’s as a community andregenerative hub. 

In May 1932  Saint Comgall’s was opened as aPublic Elementary School and built to the design of R S Wilshire who was thenthe education architect in the City. Saint Kevin’s School further up the Fallsis another of his healthy schools. His designs were revolutionary for theperiod with lots of light and air.

For the next six decades thousands of SaintComgall’s children passed through its doors. The building was at the centre ofmuch of the local sporting and cultural events during those years. The manygroup photographs that exist in the enclosed courtyard are evidence of the widespreaduse of the building by the GAA, civic organisations and the localconfraternity. The front hall which has now been lovingly restored was used fordances and bingo nights.

Uniquely the building bears the scars on its frontwall of the 1969 August pogrom in which unionist gangs, led by the RoyalUlster Constabulary (RUC) and its auxiliary force the B Specials attacked theFalls and the Clonard areas of West Belfast, as well as Ardoyne in NorthBelfast. Percy St. directly facing St. Comgall’s was largely destroyed, as wasDover St a short distance away. Residents were beaten and were fired on as theytried to escape. In St. Comgall’s an IRA Volunteer fired on the mob thwartingtheir effort to destroy the school and to attack the houses on that side of DivisSt. The bullet holes on its front wall are testimony to those events.

In 2002 the Falls Community Council purchased thebuilding with the assistance of Chuck Feeney’s Atlantic Philanthropies. Thosewho signed for the building included Liz Groves; Chrissie McAuley; John Fusco;Mike Ritchie; Ruth Tallion; Jane Craven; Eilish Rooney and Joe Nolan. Some ofthose involved in the project subsequently are no longer with us. IncludingEileen.  But those I remember include John Quinn; Marie Maguire;  SalBrennan; Mrs Timmons; Ciaran Kearney; Ciaran Quinn; Claire Hackett; andGerry McConville. I’m bound to have left someone out. If so I will rectify thatnext week. 

Eileen and her colleagues worked tirelessly seekinglong term funding, talking to architects, developing plans, talking topotential partners, and engaging with the local community. For Eileen it wasthe perfect flagship gateway project into west Belfast.

Sadly two years later, in 2004 Eileen became veryill. She died on 12 June 2004 – her anniversary was on Monday. Her loss waskeenly felt by her family, by her husband Ted, her two sons Eamonn andProinsias and the wider family circle. Her death also robbed the west Belfastcommunity of a skilled and inspirational leader.

In the years since then the Falls Community Councilhas worked hard to make Eileen’s vision for St. Comgall’s a reality. Shewould be very proud of the St. Comgall’s building that has now emerged phoenixlike out of the ashes of the abandoned and derelict building.

St. Comgall’s/Ionad Eileen Howell is designed topromote economic, educational, social and cultural benefits for the people wholive and work in the local area and to promote good relations betweencommunities through the provision of a multi-use community hub. It is a stunningbuilding. If you want to see what it once looked like and what it looks likenow then follow this link https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/stcomgalls

You will be amazed. 

A New look at the Cinema and Unionism

Richard Gallagher’s ‘Screening Ulster: Cinema andthe Unionists’ is more than its title suggests. The book specifically focuseson the period from the 1980s. From the first page Gallagher sets hisexamination of how unionism has been portrayed in the cinema over the last 40years.

In his insightful and extensively researched bookGallagher’s perceptive analysis of political and cultural unionism, its senseof Britishness, of loyalism, of community concludes that this complexity islargely absent in the cinema portrayal. What we see on the screen is a “muchnarrower definition of the unionist identity that rarely escapes a polarisedrelationship with Irish nationalism.”  Gallagher finds that “themany complications and contradictions within both the unionist identity andunionist perspectives of the Troubles” have been largely ignored.

Where unionism is portrayed it has been primarilythrough “associations to Orangeism (parades, loyalist bands andbonfires)” and through sectarian violence. Orangeism and itstraditions are often presented as supremacist, sexist, intolerant anduncompromising. According to Gallagher the most dominant form of culturalexpression espoused by unionism is to be found in the loyalist bands thataccompany the orange parades. 

In addition, Gallagher asserts that the depictionof loyalist paramilitaries has increasingly dominated cinematic depictions ofunionists. This has been influenced by the actions of unionist death squadslike the Shankill Butchers. Consequently, in the cinema loyalists are oftenpresented as “monstrous and indiscriminate in their use of violence.” Theyare rarely ascribed with being politically motivated.

Gallagher believes that the crisis in unionism’sidentity has its roots in partition. He quotes unionist commentator Alex Kanesaying; “Because we lost the union between Britain and Ireland, becausewe were contained to six counties and a majority that we knew would not bestabilised at 30%, and because we thought things would grow against us, unionismbecame paranoid. It became insular and afraid of everyone.” It was inreality the outworking of the British colonial experience in Ireland.

Gallagher also references the tensions that existwithin unionism because of its contradictory and at times antagonisticrelationship with the British state. Its loyalism to Britain has always beenconditional. Unionist paramilitaries and political parties have a long historyof links to the British military, its intelligence services and in particularthe Conservative party. Collusion between unionist death squads and the Britishstate has long been a matter of British policy. However, that loyalty hasrarely been reciprocated by the British state.

A recent example of the dysfunctional relationshipbetween unionists and British governments, and especially the Tories, is thefrequency with which unionism has been abandoned, commitments given to itdiscarded and unionist parties often and very publicly thrown under the bus.

Boris Johnson’s resignation last week as an MP is areminder of one British Prime Minister who was wined and dined by the DUP andwho made promises, which he then broke. Remember his triumphant visit to theDUP’s party conference in 2018? Arlene Foster was delighted. Johnson wastalking their language. A hard Brexit and a hard border. But then the DUP wereditched and the hated protocol was produced.

Another example of a British Prime Minister dumpingunionism when it was no longer needed. If you have an interest in cinema, howit has dealt with unionism and what all of this means for unionist identitythen this is the book for you.

 

Screening Ulster: Cinema and the Unionists by Dr.Richard Gallagher is published by Palgrave MacMillan: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-23436-1

 

 

On your Bike: Onus on Irish government to protect GFA: Historic result in the Basque country

 

ON YOUR BIKE.

I have givenmy good bike away. This marks a defining moment in my life. My good bike sat inthe backyard for almost a year. That’s the lasttime I was out on it. A year ago. It was dawning on me that my cyclingdays were over except for occasional sorties on a Greenway in some secludedplace. But I was reluctant to face up to that. It seemed to me that aslong as I held on to my good bike I held on to the possibility of venturingforth on it. Once  it was gone that possibility was gone also. So Ihung on. And on. And on. 

Then it struck me that someoneelse could be getting pleasure from my good bike. So thisweek I gave it to Anrai Óg, a  fine cyclist, on condition thathe is kind to it and that he wears a helmet. I got my good bike in Dundalkabout fifteen years ago. It was great for scooting about Dublin when I was aTD. Richard would be stuck in traffic as I whizzed passed him. It was dangerouscycling in Baile Atha Cliath. Some motorists are oblivious to cyclists. But Isurvived. And I enjoyed the  freedom that a bike represents.

Then I brought it back toBelfast. Here some motorists are equally oblivious to cyclists. But some werenot so oblivious to me. Irate anti-Shinner wannabe death drivers tried to run me off the road a few times. Others used to shout abuse asthey drove slowly alongside me.  Dirty Fenian invective isthe ruination of a good spin on a bike. The Sinn Féin traffic police had aword with me so I limited my outings. Then I hurt my back and the bike was grounded. 

Like most activities itshard to get started again once you’ve stopped.  But now  I thinkI’vedone the right thing.  At least the good bike is getting a bit ofexercise. But I miss it. 

I have been cycling since Iwas a wee buck. Joe Magee and I used to make our own bikes with salvagedframes, refurbished brakes and wobbley  wheels. We got very goodat repairing and riding our makey up steeds. We used to wander out to Glenavyand Lough Neagh on Sundays. Onec I careered down Hannahstown Hill when it was astraight run down to Suffolk Road. My brakes failed and I screamed across theGlen Road at high speed. Luckily there were no cars to impede my passage.

 Iremember when I got my first wages I  bought a new racing bike onhire purchase. From a shop on the Shankill Road.  I also remembercrashing it into the back of a bus on the Springfield Road just below the WestCircular. The kindly conductor took me and my injured cycle on the platform ofthe bus and dropped us off in the city centre close to The Duke of York, myworkplace. A new front wheel from Garvey’s and I was able to cycle back homeagain that night. Some years  later I dodged Brit Army road blocksand slipped around Belfast on two wheels. 

So you dearreader can see how I miss my good bike.  Over the years I have cometo  understand what Flann O Brien meant when he wrote in TheThird Policeman that  people can take on the personality of theirbike. 

‘ The gross and net result of it is that people whospent most of their natural lives riding iron bicycles over the rockyroadsteads of this parish get their personalities mixed up with thepersonalities of their bicycle as a result of the interchanging of the atoms ofeach of them and you would be surprised at the number of people in these partswho are nearly half people and half bicycles...when a man let’s things go sofar that he is more than half a bicycle ………. ‘

So there youare. I’m not half the man or half thebicycle  I used to be. But at least my good bike is happy.

 

Onus on Irish government to protect GFA

Human rights abuses and inequality were at the coreof the Unionist Stormont Regime. Discrimination in employment and housing, thegerrymandering of electoral boundaries under the Unionist One Party state, wereembedded in the DNA of Britain’s colonial outpost in Ireland.

Consequently, when the Good Friday Agreement cameto be negotiated the issues of equality and human rights were central to its provisions.Under these there was to be a Bill of Rights and the European Convention onHuman Rights (ECHR) was to be incorporated into the law of the North. However,25 years later there is still no Bill of Rights and the British Tory governmenthas repeatedly said that it intends to get rid of the Human Rights Act whichreflects many of the rights provisions made in the GFA.

The adverse impact of Britain’s refusal to honourits human rights commitments has been underlined in three recent significantreports coming out of Europe.

A report by the Parliamentary Assembly of theCouncil of Europe (PACE) confirms that since Brexit, the rights ofindividuals in the north have been undermined. The PACE Report states: “Brexithas already led to a diminution of the rights of Irish and EU citizens in NIand threatens to do so to an even greater extent in the future."

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) report - TheImplementation of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement- was published in January. Itfound that the British government has failed to live up to its commitment “tocontinue to facilitate the work of the human rights and equality commissionsestablished under the GFA”.

It concluded that the British government has “acted incompatibly withthis commitment, in particular in running down the NI Human Rights Commissionto such an extent that the UN accreditation committee has declined to renew its"UN A Status."

The third report is by the International Juristsdelegation which came to Ireland February It represents international humanrights lawyers from Europe, the USA and South Africa. The wide ranging report -“The Crisis in the Human Rights Framework of the Good Friday Agreement” -specifically examined Britain’s proposed Legacy legislation, changes to theHuman Rights Act and the impact of Brexit.

The conclusions make for damning reading of theBritish position. The report concludes that: “The UK Government will violateinternational law if it passes the Legacy Bill”. The delegation called on theBritish government to end its “legal and political attacks on the Good FridayAgreement.” Their report asserts that the British government “is not acting ingood faith or fulfilling its role as an honest broker in maintaining the terms”of the GFA. The report calls for the Legacy Bill to be withdrawn and that theHuman Rights Act should be strengthened, not weakened.

The Human Rights protections that are an integralpart of the Good Friday Agreement are under sustained attack from the Tories. Avigorous defence in required but specifically there is a heavy onus on theIrish government as the co-equal guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement toemploy its diplomatic and political resources to challenge this Britishstrategy.

 

Historic result in the Basque country

As Irish republicans enjoy the recent success inthe local government election in the North our friends and comrades in theBasque country – EH Bildu – were also enjoying a significant historicalelectoral victory.

The election was for 12 regional governments and8,000 municipal councils. The result was bad for the governing Socialist Partyand good for the opposition conservative Peoples’ Party and puts it in pollposition for the general election which has been brought forward to July.

However, in the Basque country the pro-independenceparty EH Bildu made a significant breakthrough in the Parliament of Nafarroaand the county parliaments of the Basque autonomous region provinces of Araba,Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa.

Arnaldo Otegi, afrequent visitor to Ireland told a press conference: “We are committed toleading the change that people demand, and we are open to building alliancesfor the benefit of the majority.”

In the weeks aheadnegotiations will intensify to form provincial governments. EH Bildu is wellplaced to make gains.

So, well done to Arnaldoand Urko and all of our friends in the Basque country.

 

 

Remembering Fr. Matt Wallace – He never stopped giving

Remembering Fr. MattWallace – He never stopped giving

Today marks the tenth anniversary of the death ofFather Matt Wallace. Fr. Matt was from Templetown in Co Wexford. He wasordained in 1970 and spent most of his life as a priest working in West Belfast.At the time of his death Matt was parish priest of Holy Trinity whichcovered the Turf Lodge area. His funeral was attended by four bishops, over 40priests and colleagues and by over a thousand mourners.

His family travelled up from Wexford to be present.This is a column I wrote at that time about the Wexford priest who won thehearts of the people of west Belfast.

 

FATHER MATT

I slipped up the side of Holy Trinity church and joined the people standing atthe front door. Matt's clann were standing across from us in a line talkingquietly. I noticed how well the church grounds looked. The crowd at the gatethickened. More people joined us. Turf Lodge was hushed. The sun shone. Thebirds sang. It all seemed surreal. Normal.

Then the coffin was lifted from the hearse andcarried into the porch of the church.  People started to applaud. Matt was home. Home in Holy Trinity.

His family wept. So did the rest of us. Poor Matt.Such a good straight decent man. Struggling. Giving. Slagging. Praying. Butnever preaching. Funny that. A priest who didn't preach. Not in theconventional sense.

'People here don't need me to tell them what iswrong and what is right. They are rearing families, minding neighbours. Theyknow what is wrong and what is right. The people are the church. It was alwaysso. They need support. Hope. A chance. Not long sermons'.

So Matt didn't preach.  Matt led.

He was conscious of all the flaws in the humancondition but energetically and impatiently alert to our great potential andour possibilities. His vocation was grounded in that gospel of hope. For all ofus.

His Masses were always packed. And quick. He didn'thang about. Bustling up onto the altar. If he said anything aside from theprayers it would be to commend some local project or to comment favourably on alocal development or disapprovingly of something the powers that be had done.Or to joke with someone in the congregation.

Matt saw the Mass as a social occasion. He told methat. For many people, he said, it was where they meet their friends.Particularly older people who didn't get out a lot. If you go to Holy Trinity afew minutes early for Mass that's what you would notice. People sittingchatting to each other. Others kneeling and praying of course. But in thebackground the low chatter of folks talking. Then, in Matt would come and allwould rise. And he would be off at a gallop.

Matt is from Wexford. The weekend his life ended Wexfordbeat Louth in the football, and drew with Dublin in the hurling. He would haveliked that. Forty years in Belfast, first on the Ormeau Road and the rest ofthe time in West Belfast, in Divis and Lenadoon and Turf Lodge. But a proudWexford Gael.

Working with the great people of this wonderfulcommunity through all our tribulations. Baptising our babies. Burying our dead.Officiating at our weddings and communions and confirmations.  Working atbuilding schools and community centres and youth facilities and counsellingservices and women's projects. Fundraising. Encouraging jobs initiatives.Visiting the sick. And the dying. And the elderly. Looking after victims ofabuse of every kind.  Challenging the system. Standing up to the BritishArmy when they were here. Visiting the prisons.

And having the odd pint up in the Gort to celebratethat fine club's achievements and to discuss the merits of Wexford and Antrimhurling.

Matt was his own man. He was often annoyed at theHierarchy. At the height of the revelations of clerical child abuse and afterthe publication of one of the reports into this he told usone Sunday morning that he had a letter from the bishops to read tous.

'But' hecontinued, 'if you are really interested in what bishops are saying youcan read it for yourselves. We all know what the bishops should do. They shouldclear all this up. And if they are not prepared to do this then they shouldresign.'

And he continued with the Mass.

Matt was a very human being.

Another time when one of our much loved oldpatriots and celebrated Gaels, Eddie Keenan, died his local priest would notlet Eddie's coffin into the parish church draped in the national flag. Hisfamily contacted me. I phoned Matt.

'Bring him here Gerry", hesaid.

And we did. For a Mass of music and song. A celebrationof a life well lived.

Much like Matt's life. He also lived his life well.

He gave his all. And never stopped giving.

Calls to the house at all times of the night.Distressed citizens. Or Passport forms to be signed. References to be written.Attending the scenes of sudden deaths. Of suicides. No wonder he smoked like atrain. When he wasn't trying to give them up. Always something else to do.Someone else to attend to. Matt gave and gave and gave. Until he had nothingelse to give.

And we, who wonder why he went as he did, we whoare hurting because we couldn't  help him, we who are honoured to call himFather and friend we know  we are better people because of him.

Because he loved us and cared for us. All of us.

The killing of Eddie Fullerton: Nakba – the expulsion of the Palestinians

The killing of Eddie Fullerton

In March 1984 I was shot as I andfour friends drove from Belfast Court. We were driving up May St. at the backof the City Hall when our car was fired on from a passing vehicle. Four of us –myself, Sean Keenan, Joe Keenan, and Kevin Rooney - were hit. Bob Murray escapedinjury. I was wounded in the neck, shoulder and upper body. We were blessed by incompetentassassins, UDA members and surrogates of the British system. 

Shortly after this Colette and Itravelled to Donegal for me to recuperate. Friends of Martin McGuinness, whohad a mobile home not far from Buncrana in the Inis Eoghain peninsula, verykindly gave us the use of it. A local republican, not long out of prison inEngland, the late Réamonn Mac Lochlainn and his wife Mary – parents of PádraigMacLochlainn TD - made sure we were not lacking in any home comforts.

Among those who were frequentvisitors was local Councillor Eddie Fullerton and his friend Jim Farry. Theylooked after us. Their craic was mighty. Eddie took great pleasure in bringingme about Inis Eoghain. He told me the history of this very beautiful part ofthe world.

Eddie brought me to the littlequay, close to Crana Bridge, where the Crana River meets Lough Swilly. It washere that Wolfe Tone landed after his capture on Lough Swilly by the Britishforces in 1798. Known locally as the ‘stone jug’ a memorial to Eddie now standsalongside the Wolfe Tone memorial stone on that historic spot.

Eddie was assassinated at his homein Buncrana by the UDA in May 1991. He was one of three Sinn Féin Councillors,Leas Uachtarán Máire Drumm, 17 party members and four family members who werethe victim of British state collusion during the years of conflict.

Last week on the 32nd anniversaryof his murder I joined his family in the Lake of Shadows Hotel, Buncrana forthe launch of my latest Léargas book - ‘Councillor Eddie Fullerton:Visionary. Patriot. Martyr.’ It tells the remarkable story of Eddie from hisbirth in 1935, through his formative years in Inis Eoghain, his journey toScotland and England, his marriage in Birmingham to Dinah and his return toDonegal. My thanks to Richard McAuley for his assistance with research andDanny Morisson for proof reading. 

The book recountsEddie’s activism as a Sinn Féin Councillor. It also provides detail – drawnfrom the family and from the Police Ombudsman’s Operation Medina and OperationGreenwich reports, on the extent of British state collusion in his murder andthe failure of the Irish government to challenge the British government’scover-up of this.

Eddie was a larger than lifecharacter with a big mop of hair, a thick beard and a voice to match. He andDinah had six children; Johnny, Marina, Albert, Amanda, Anita and Eddie. SadlyAlbert was killed in a road traffic accident in 2006.

         With Dinah - Eddie's wife

Eddie was also a frequentcontributor at our annual Ard Fheis and other party conferences. He was anaturally gifted and inspirational speaker who marshalled his argumentslogically and presented them passionately. When speaking at the Ard Fheis hewould always run over the allotted time. On one occasion I remember the sessionChair Seán McManus vainly attempting to call Eddie’s contribution to a halt.

“You are overtime speaker andthere are other contributors waiting to speak. Will you please wrap yourremarks up!”

He tried to interrupt Eddie againand again and again. Eddie didn’t flinch. He kept right on going.

Finally after another very sternwarning from the Chair Eddie turned to him and said with a big grin:

“Look, I have had to travel onehundred and sixty three miles to get here. And that’s not counting theroundabouts! So I’m gonna speak and I’m going to finish.” And he did.That was Eddie.

    Amanda Fullerton agus mise talking to the audience

On one infamous occasion theprejudice of the southern political establishment saw an Irish governmentMinister refuse to meet a Council delegation because Eddie was part of it.Rather than see his colleagues miss the opportunity to speak to the MinisterEddie withdrew from the meeting.

For years Eddie campaigned to havea dam built to supply water to Buncrana and local businesses. Eventually hesucceeded. It was constructed in Pollen Valley outside the town. It took twelveyears to complete. It was named after Eddie. Years later Martin McGuinnesswrote a poem about it.

This Léargas is a celebration ofthe life of Eddie Fullerton - his activism, his republicanism and his family.It also tells the story of collusion and of the background to his murder.

I would urge all of you to supportEddie’s family in their efforts to force the Irish government to stand up fortheir right to truth and to challenge the British government’s efforts toprevent this, especially through the current Legacy Bill.

 

This is the ninth publication inGerry Adams Léargas series and a tenth will be published in June celebratingthe activism of Fra McCann and Alex Maskey. In August a Léargas about RitaO’Hare will also be published.

‘Councillor Eddie Fullerton:Visionary. Patriot. Martyr.’ is available from The Sinn Féin bookshop, 58Parnell Square, Dublin 1 –  www.sinnfeinbookshop.com  and from AnFhuiseog 55 Falls Road BT12 4PD and  www.thelarkstore.ie

 

 

Fullerton’s Dam

by Martin McGuinness

Purple-heathered hillsides clothe the peaty bogsleaching streams of water swimming pools for frogs.

Down along the glenside a richbrown vein does run to meet and greet another beneath the rising sun.

Here below twin bridges theCrana springs to life amid kamikaze midges where father found his wife.

At castle gates salmon waitsout in the Swilly blue for destiny and a leaper’s spate to bring her home sotrue.

A creator with an earthy facedecreed his plan would make this valley the perfect place to gather raindropsin a lake.

 

Nakba – the expulsion of the Palestinians

May marked the75th anniversary of the Nakba or Catastrophe – the forcible expulsionof three quarters of a million Palestinians from their homes by Israeli forcesin 1948. On 15 May 1948 the Israeli state was formally recognised by the UnitedNations. The expulsion of Palestinians which had been going on was stepped up.750,000 Palestinian people were dispossessed and forced to become refugees intheir own land. Israel ethnically cleansed over 500 villages and killed 15,000Palestinians.

Today Palestinians are subject tothe apartheid regime that is Israel. More than three million livein the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem and are subject to ongoing arrest,internment, daily attack and murder, the theft of land and water resources andthe destruction of homes and schools.

Two million Palestinians live inthe Gaza Strip under an Israeli siege. And almost two million more Palestinianslive in Israel where they are subject to extensive discrimination by a systemof structured political and economic discrimination.

As a result ofIsraeli policy there are almost eight million Palestinian refugees.

In solidarity withthe Palestinian people Sinn Fein TD John Brady recently introduced legislationin the Oireachtas calling on the Irish government to instruct the IrishStrategic Investment Fund to divest itself of all current assets belonging tocompanies operating within illegal Israeli settlements that are in breach ofinternational law.

However, while the Irish governmentclaims to support the Bill it has chosen to block the legislation fromprogressing by attacking the UN Human Rights Council Database on which the billis premised. As a result the Irish state remains financially connected to theactions of Israel within the illegal settlements.

Its attitude on this is similarto its approach to the motion passed by Oireachtas in December 2014 that called on the government to ‘officiallyrecognise the State of Palestine, on the basis of the 1967 borders with EastJerusalem as the capital, as established in UN resolutions, as a furtherpositive contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution to theIsraeli-Palestinian conflict.”

The motion was passed butthe Irish government has done nothing to advance it. Shame on it. If you want to knowmore about the Nakba watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IFsj6Y3xfs

Ar Slí An Fhirinne: Delivering Change: In solidarity with LGBTQ+ citizens: Poems for Hard Times - Child’s Play.

 

Martha Mallon
Ar Slí An Fhirinne. 

It’s the age we’re at Itell myself and my declining peer group as we attend funeral after funeral thislast wee while.  The great wheel of life is now turning for ourgeneration. This phase started with Colette’s sister Martha. Martha was eightyfive. The matriarch of the Ma

llon family. A kind, strong, gentle woman wholived on through Parkinson’s and the loss of her husband Jim and their son Jim.Martha was ferried between Andytown and Donegal and Spain by her devoted familyuntil her time came. Mary Herald, the same age as Martha and a childhood friendand neighbour in the Whiterock went next. A valiant Camóg in her day and alifelong Antrim Gael.

Then out of the blue ourfriend and comrade Damien Gibney died quietly and unexpectedly dozing in hischair. Damien, one of the two first Sinn Féin Councillors elected to Lisburn,along with Pat Rice, in dangerous times will be deeply missed by May and Sineádand the entire Gibney clann. Andrea Murphy’s tribute last week speaks to the history,kindness and compassion of that family. 

On Sunday on the road backfrom an event in Dungannon we got the news that Rab Kerr had died suddenly. Laurence McKeown who was 73 days on Hunger Strike in 1981 remembered Raband Jennifer McCann.

“33 years ago today, the17th May 1990 I was best man at the wedding of Rab Kerr and Jennifer McCann.The wedding took place in the chapel of the H-Blocks, Long Kesh where Rab and Iwere both life-sentence prisoners. Jennifer too was a prisoner at the time inMaghaberry Prison (and before that Armagh Women's Prison) where she was servinga 20-year sentence. Her bridesmaid was Mary McArdle, also a life-sentenceprisoner. They were both brought from Maghaberry to the H-Blocks for thewedding and then returned to Maghaberry that afternoon. 

Jennifer, aged 21 at thetime of her arrest, was sentenced on the 6th March 1981. She was a close friendof Bobby Sands and Bobby wrote in his prison diary while on hunger strike thatday, "My friend Jennifer got twenty years. I am greatlydistressed." 

After the wedding ceremonyJennifer and Mary were held in the prison hospital over lunchtime beforegetting visits with Rab and me. They both often talk about how strange andemotional it was to be in the place where Bobby and the other 9 died. 

Last Sunday afternoon I gotthe tragic news that Rab had died suddenly. Rab, a volunteer, a blanketman, anescapee (1983) but most of all a gentleman, loving husband of Jennifer, anddevoted father to Meadhbh, Sáerlaith and Fionntan.
Slán a chara”.

Laurence speaks for all ofus who knew Rab. Go raibh maith agat chara. 

Pat Donaghy from Tyrone, afriend of mine and a long time Sinn Féin supporter in the USA and a champion ofthe search for peace in his homeland lost his brother Gerald around the sametime. Gerald, like all the Donaghy clann, was a good Irish patriot. He hosted anumber of Friends of Sinn Féin events for me to speak at. The family organisedfor him to be buried in Carrickmore. He was to be waked in the family home inTromogue. His older brother Jim made all the arrangements. Then Jim diedsuddenly. We buried the two brothers together on a beautiful May morning lastweek in their beloved Tyrone.

           Kieran Monaghan

On the way back to BelfastI got the news of the death of Kieran Monaghan, Máire’s husband, Daddy of Harryand Gabrielle and son of Ciaran and Gabrielle. Kieran had been valiantlybattling cancer. 

For months he defied deathand astonished family, friends and his medical team by his calm, stoicalrefusal to give up. Eventually Kieran left on his own terms on his DivisMountain utopia surrounded by his clann and close to nature and his dogs. 

Too many funerals in tooshort a time. Yet this is life. In these times of loss and grief the blessingsof an Irish wake are clear. So too is the kindness and generosity of localcommunities. That was a character of all the funerals I attended. Its what wedo well. There is comfort too in religious rituals, in music andstory-telling. 

No one, even people ofgreat faith, knows what happens to us after we die. That’s one of life’s greatmysteries. In the Irish language we describe the dead as being on the way oftruth - ar slí an fhirinne. They now know what comes next.   The ancientIrish believed that the spirits of the dead linger in places that they loved. Ilike the sense of that. So Kieran's spirit will forever roam themountain. 

 We also know thatfriends and  family members continue to be our friends and family membersafter they die. Death does not change that.

Death  does  notstop brothers being brothers. And mammies and grannies are mammies and granniesforever. Granda's too. And  daddies. They all  live on in ourmemories. The Donaghy's and Damien, big Rab and Martha and the others willcontinue to mind their families. Forever. 

Cleaky told me decades agothat immortality is to be remembered and spoken of, by friends and family. Solet us speak of all them. With love and affection.  

Paul Maskey MP with five SF Councillors elected for the Colin area

Delivering Change

Last week’s northern localgovernment election was an outstanding success for Sinn Féin. Well done toeveryone involved, especially the voters. 

The Sinn Féin leadership,its local election directorates and activists, including many from the Southpresented the electorate with sound policies and a powerful team of experiencedand first time candidates to vote for. The party stood on its commitment toIrish Unity, our record of work in the Councils, our defence of the Good FridayAgreement and on the imperative of getting the power sharing institutions backup and running. Michelle O’Neill demonstrated her commitment to be a FirstMinister for all.

As a result there are now144 Sinn Féin Councillors.

Sinn Féin is the largestparty in the Assembly; the biggest party in local government by seats held andvote share; has the greater number of MPs at Westminster and is the largestparty in the South. In addition the number of voters who backed parties thatfavour a United Ireland is greater than those who backed the union withBritain. 

But we still have to securethe unity referendum promised in the GFA and to win it. That means increasingour efforts to persuade the Irish government to establish a Citizen’s Assemblyand to begin the process of planning for Irish Unity.

Citizens want us to deliveron commitments. They want the promise of change and the hope for a new futureto be more than rhetorical. We need to keep building greater politicalstrength. The momentum is with those who want change but the   bigchallenge facing Irish republicans is how we use our growing strength, notleast to secure and win the Good Friday Agreements unity referendum. 

In solidarity with LGBTQ+citizens

Last week a video wasposted on social media of a vicious attack on a young person in Navan in Co.Meath. It shows a 14-year-old boy being violently assaulted by a group of otheryoung people. The boy is punched to the face and forced to the ground where heis kicked and punched again as he tries to crawl away. The assault only endswhen other young people step in to stop it. 

The  14-year-oldsuffered concussion, broken teeth, and extensive bruising, including the markof a shoe imprinted on his forehead.

According to the youngperson’s family he was targeted because he is gay. He is the victim of ahomophobic hate crime. In the aftermath five young people were arrested andthere is an ongoing Garda investigation. At the weekend people marched throughNavan in solidarity with the young person.

I want to extend mysolidarity to the victim. There can be no place for such hatred in any society.Bullying and hate crime whether against the LGBTQ+ community or whether it isgender based or sectarian or motivated by race or colour must be confrontedwherever it rears its ugly head. 

Poems for Hard Times

Child’s Play.

A little girl
A wee boy
Brother and sister
Wind in their hair
Rain on their faces.

Unbridled energy
Unfettered exuberance
Excitement released
Like an escaping captive
Intoxicated by fresh air.

 Darting, jumping
Leaping yelling
Running falling
Squealing screaming
Laughing crying.

Uplifted by nature
And their own hyperness
At one with the elements
And with themselves
Dancing in the nowness.

And the sheer and simple
Joy of being.

 

The People���s Archive by The People���s Priest: Have your say on the future of Ireland: Se��n Keane: Walking with my Mother

 

ThePeople���s Archive by The People���s Priest

Fr.Des Wilson died in November 2019. I first met him in 1968. His long life wasdedicated to helping people.  During the years of conflict, he stood withthe Upper Springfield community against the aggression and violence of theBritish state forces.  He gave comfort and solidarity to those in need andwas hugely respected and loved.

Fr.Des was the people���s priest, a community activist, an educator, a defender ofpeople���s rights, an author, dramatist and writer. He was also a man ofgreat courage, a good neighbour, and a decent human being.

On amore personal note in 1971, after internment, Fr. Des married Colette and mewhile I was on the run.

Lastweek the St. Comgall���s/Ionad Eileen Howell hosted an event celebrating Fr.Des���s life. On show were some of the 10,000 individual artefacts and documentsthat Fr. Des accumulated over his lifetime. Ciaran Cahill of SpringhillCommunity House explained that the Lottery Heritage Fund has agreed to supportthe cataloguing of Fr. Des���s archive.

Thisis a wonderful initiative providing an invaluable insight into the story of thecommunity of Upper Springfield and west Belfast and in particular of thenationalist working class communities. The aim is to preserve and curate thisarchive for future generations and researchers and to provide experience andtraining in archival methodology.

              Fr. Des and Noelle Ryan

Fr.Des was a prolific writer, including a weekly column for this fine paper. Hewrote books and leaflets and pamphlets and collected posters, and photographsand locally produced community and political material.

As Iwandered around the tables where some of his material was laid out I wastransported back to the 1970s and 8o���s, to the trauma of internment and thetragedy of the H-Blocks and Armagh and of the hunger strikes. There wereposters and leaflets calling for the ban on plastic bullets and the end oftorture in RUC interrogation centres.

Fr.Des kept a regular diary. Part of which he recorded on a twin-track taperecorder. It was sitting in pride of place in the middle of a table with theaccumulated dust of the years on it alongside some of the original tapes andposters.  There was also a photograph of Fr. Des and Noelle Ryan whoworked closely with him over many years. Ciaran played for us a part of one ofDes���s diary recordings made shortly after the Ballymurphy Massacre in August1971 in which he spoke of his desire for a centre for reconciliation as amemorial to those who had been killed by the Parachute Regiment.

The IrishPost in Britain carried a report of Fr. Des celebrating the 50th anniversaryof his ordination as a priest in September 1999. It includes a little poem fromhis good friend Fr. Joe McVeigh:

He���s a Celtand a Catholic, a

Buddhist anda Jew,

Arepublican, a socialist, and an anarchist too,

He���s apriest and a prophet,

A fighter tothe end ���

But most ofall.

Des Wilsonis our friend.

Itis clear just from the couple of dozen examples available last week that ThePeople���s Archive will be an important addition to the story of west Belfast andto the strength and vision of its people. Well done Ciaran, Claire Hackett andTiarnan O���Muilleoir, the archivist, and all of those involved in this veryimportant project. The exhibition will be on show at various locations over therest of the year, including during F��ile an Phobail. It you get a chance go andsee it.

 

Have your say on the future of Ireland

The Commission on the Future of Ireland wasestablished by Sinn F��in in November 2021. Its remit is to undertake a grassrootsconsultation with the people of Ireland and internationally on the future ofour island. For people to have their say on what the future might be.

So far the Commission has held four People���sAssemblies in Belfast, Derry, Ballybofey in Co. Donegal and the CarrickdaleHotel covering Louth, South Down and South Armagh. Independent Chairpersons anda wide range of political, economic, cultural and community contributors haveparticipated.

All of the events have been very well attended andpublic reports have been published. Videos of the event are available onYouTube. For example a video of the Donegal People���s Assembly is availableat: https://youtu.be/OUmR_pPnVt8

In June the Commission will be holding a Women���sAssembly in Belfast and a Youth Assembly in Dublin and we are planning two morePeoples Assemblies to be held in the South later in the year including one inthe Galway Gaeltacht.

The Commission has received over 150 written contributions froma broad range of interested individuals and groups.

If you want to make a contribution ��� to give youropinion on the shape and format of the new Ireland why not email the Commissionat commission@sinnfein.ie or via thefollowing webpage www.sinnfein.ie/ futureofireland 

 

Walkingwith my Mother

Hereis another offering from a book of poetry - Poems for Hard Times ���I published a few years ago. This week I thought I would share this onewithyou.

Walking with my Mother

My mother died in 1992.

In 2007 I met her.

On the back road above Cashelnagore.

The August sunshine lit up

The scarlet fushia and the montbretia

And the white of her hair.

As I walked behind her

She picked wildflowers From the ditches.

Then at a gap in the hedge

She turned and smiled at me.

���L�� deas ata ann��� she said. 

���It���s a nice day���.

I walked on.

Alone.

Wondering how this could be.

 

Se��nKeane.

Regular readers will know that this column is alover of music. My tastes are wide ranging and eclectic. But mostly I come backto folk music and invariably to Irish traditional music. And always when I���m inthat mood it���s The Chieftains for me. Last week I purchased Chronicles: 60Years Of The Chieftains on line from Claddagh Records. 

I have been playing it constantly since then.Appropriately Paddy Maloney and his friends were belting out The MorningDew when I got the sad news of the death of Se��n Keane. Se��n died suddenly athome in Dublin. He was one of our foremost fiddle players and a constant part ofThe Chieftains since 1968. I have been one of his fans since then.

Se��n was the quiet, tall understated musical magicianwho brought old airs and traditional tunes alive. He was true to the traditionbut expert at weaving it into his own unique style. He was a musician���smusician.  He has three solo albums Gusty���s Frolics, Se��nKeane  and Jig it in Style. He and Matt Malloy, another genius,flute player  and a  Chieftain also, recorded Contentmentis Wealth. If you want Irish music at its best it���s worth a listen. So too areSe��n���s recordings with piper Liam O Flynn. He won many awards for hiswonderful music. 

He was always delighted to be part of TheChieftains. They brought traditional music across the world. With them,Se��n also  played alongside Mick Jagger, Kate Bush, Ry Cooder,Sting, Sinead O Connor and many other great performers. 

His last public performance was the gig forPresident Biden down in Mayo weeks ago. I watched it on TV and I recall hishuge smile as they finished up one particularly boisterous set. I bumped intohim in the restaurant in Leinster House around the same time. I thanked him forhis service to our culture. I���m glad I did. He told me he was still playingwith Matt Malloy.   

Paddy Glackin another wonderful fiddle player, in atribute to Se��n said that Se��n  understood the ���emotional,spiritual  and lonely quality in Irish traditional music.��� 

Se��n will be missed by everyone who appreciatestraditional music. Thankfully, because of his many recording, we canstill listen to him.

B�� mhaith liom mo comh bhr��n a dheanamh leis ateaghlach agus a cairde, go h���airithe na ceolteoir�� eile. 

 

 

The People’s Archive by The People’s Priest: Have your say on the future of Ireland: Seán Keane: Walking with my Mother

 

ThePeople’s Archive by The People’s Priest

Fr.Des Wilson died in November 2019. I first met him in 1968. His long life wasdedicated to helping people.  During the years of conflict, he stood withthe Upper Springfield community against the aggression and violence of theBritish state forces.  He gave comfort and solidarity to those in need andwas hugely respected and loved.

Fr.Des was the people’s priest, a community activist, an educator, a defender ofpeople’s rights, an author, dramatist and writer. He was also a man ofgreat courage, a good neighbour, and a decent human being.

On amore personal note in 1971, after internment, Fr. Des married Colette and mewhile I was on the run.

Lastweek the St. Comgall’s/Ionad Eileen Howell hosted an event celebrating Fr.Des’s life. On show were some of the 10,000 individual artefacts and documentsthat Fr. Des accumulated over his lifetime. Ciaran Cahill of SpringhillCommunity House explained that the Lottery Heritage Fund has agreed to supportthe cataloguing of Fr. Des’s archive.

Thisis a wonderful initiative providing an invaluable insight into the story of thecommunity of Upper Springfield and west Belfast and in particular of thenationalist working class communities. The aim is to preserve and curate thisarchive for future generations and researchers and to provide experience andtraining in archival methodology.

              Fr. Des and Noelle Ryan

Fr.Des was a prolific writer, including a weekly column for this fine paper. Hewrote books and leaflets and pamphlets and collected posters, and photographsand locally produced community and political material.

As Iwandered around the tables where some of his material was laid out I wastransported back to the 1970s and 8o’s, to the trauma of internment and thetragedy of the H-Blocks and Armagh and of the hunger strikes. There wereposters and leaflets calling for the ban on plastic bullets and the end oftorture in RUC interrogation centres.

Fr.Des kept a regular diary. Part of which he recorded on a twin-track taperecorder. It was sitting in pride of place in the middle of a table with theaccumulated dust of the years on it alongside some of the original tapes andposters.  There was also a photograph of Fr. Des and Noelle Ryan whoworked closely with him over many years. Ciaran played for us a part of one ofDes’s diary recordings made shortly after the Ballymurphy Massacre in August1971 in which he spoke of his desire for a centre for reconciliation as amemorial to those who had been killed by the Parachute Regiment.

The IrishPost in Britain carried a report of Fr. Des celebrating the 50th anniversaryof his ordination as a priest in September 1999. It includes a little poem fromhis good friend Fr. Joe McVeigh:

He’s a Celtand a Catholic, a

Buddhist anda Jew,

Arepublican, a socialist, and an anarchist too,

He’s apriest and a prophet,

A fighter tothe end –

But most ofall.

Des Wilsonis our friend.

Itis clear just from the couple of dozen examples available last week that ThePeople’s Archive will be an important addition to the story of west Belfast andto the strength and vision of its people. Well done Ciaran, Claire Hackett andTiarnan O’Muilleoir, the archivist, and all of those involved in this veryimportant project. The exhibition will be on show at various locations over therest of the year, including during Féile an Phobail. It you get a chance go andsee it.

 

Have your say on the future of Ireland

The Commission on the Future of Ireland wasestablished by Sinn Féin in November 2021. Its remit is to undertake a grassrootsconsultation with the people of Ireland and internationally on the future ofour island. For people to have their say on what the future might be.

So far the Commission has held four People’sAssemblies in Belfast, Derry, Ballybofey in Co. Donegal and the CarrickdaleHotel covering Louth, South Down and South Armagh. Independent Chairpersons anda wide range of political, economic, cultural and community contributors haveparticipated.

All of the events have been very well attended andpublic reports have been published. Videos of the event are available onYouTube. For example a video of the Donegal People’s Assembly is availableat: https://youtu.be/OUmR_pPnVt8

In June the Commission will be holding a Women’sAssembly in Belfast and a Youth Assembly in Dublin and we are planning two morePeoples Assemblies to be held in the South later in the year including one inthe Galway Gaeltacht.

The Commission has received over 150 written contributions froma broad range of interested individuals and groups.

If you want to make a contribution – to give youropinion on the shape and format of the new Ireland why not email the Commissionat commission@sinnfein.ie or via thefollowing webpage www.sinnfein.ie/ futureofireland 

 

Walkingwith my Mother

Hereis another offering from a book of poetry - Poems for Hard Times –I published a few years ago. This week I thought I would share this onewithyou.

Walking with my Mother

My mother died in 1992.

In 2007 I met her.

On the back road above Cashelnagore.

The August sunshine lit up

The scarlet fushia and the montbretia

And the white of her hair.

As I walked behind her

She picked wildflowers From the ditches.

Then at a gap in the hedge

She turned and smiled at me.

‘Lá deas ata ann’ she said. 

‘It’s a nice day’.

I walked on.

Alone.

Wondering how this could be.

 

SeánKeane.

Regular readers will know that this column is alover of music. My tastes are wide ranging and eclectic. But mostly I come backto folk music and invariably to Irish traditional music. And always when I’m inthat mood it’s The Chieftains for me. Last week I purchased Chronicles: 60Years Of The Chieftains on line from Claddagh Records. 

I have been playing it constantly since then.Appropriately Paddy Maloney and his friends were belting out The MorningDew when I got the sad news of the death of Seán Keane. Seán died suddenly athome in Dublin. He was one of our foremost fiddle players and a constant part ofThe Chieftains since 1968. I have been one of his fans since then.

Seán was the quiet, tall understated musical magicianwho brought old airs and traditional tunes alive. He was true to the traditionbut expert at weaving it into his own unique style. He was a musician’smusician.  He has three solo albums Gusty’s Frolics, SeánKeane  and Jig it in Style. He and Matt Malloy, another genius,flute player  and a  Chieftain also, recorded Contentmentis Wealth. If you want Irish music at its best it’s worth a listen. So too areSeán’s recordings with piper Liam O Flynn. He won many awards for hiswonderful music. 

He was always delighted to be part of TheChieftains. They brought traditional music across the world. With them,Seán also  played alongside Mick Jagger, Kate Bush, Ry Cooder,Sting, Sinead O Connor and many other great performers. 

His last public performance was the gig forPresident Biden down in Mayo weeks ago. I watched it on TV and I recall hishuge smile as they finished up one particularly boisterous set. I bumped intohim in the restaurant in Leinster House around the same time. I thanked him forhis service to our culture. I’m glad I did. He told me he was still playingwith Matt Malloy.   

Paddy Glackin another wonderful fiddle player, in atribute to Seán said that Seán  understood the ‘emotional,spiritual  and lonely quality in Irish traditional music.’ 

Seán will be missed by everyone who appreciatestraditional music. Thankfully, because of his many recording, we canstill listen to him.

Bá mhaith liom mo comh bhrón a dheanamh leis ateaghlach agus a cairde, go h’airithe na ceolteoirí eile. 

 

 

Candidatitis: Solidarity with Palestinian people: Gaza

 Candidatitis

I first published this article in 2007 and then, slightlyamended in 2016. And again last year. We are only a wee while away from thelocal government elections in the North. Sinn Féin is standing its largestnumber of candidates ever in this contest including the most firstcandidates. So I thought this would be a good time to republish itagain, slightly amended once more. 

It is my tribute to the majority of candidates who won’t getelected. Think of them as you digest all the outcomes.  Good luck tothem all. Good luck especially to Sinn Féin’s candidates. I hope we have agreat result. 

That’s all in the gift of the electorate. So I thank allthe voters as well as all the candidates. 

Opinion polls have become an integral part of every electioncampaign. Every newspaper and every broadcast outlet tries to second guess theelectorate by commissioning polls. And then their columnists or pundits spend ahuge amount of time analysing the poll they just commissioned.

So do many candidates. And their supporters. This can lead tomood changes and other character changing tendencies. This can be verystressful. So every candidate and everyone else should be mindful of theparticular and peculiar stresses and strains that come with being a candidate.It’s a form of ailment called Candidatitis. It begins withthe candidate coming to believe – with a certainty known only to the prophetsof old – that they are going to win.

This syndrome is capable of moving even the most rationalaspirant or shy wallflower into a state of extreme self belief. It strikeswithout warning, is no respecter of gender, and can infect the lowly municipalhopeful, the aspiring Parliamentarian, as well as the lofty presidentialwannabe.

I believe this is due to two factors. First of all most peoplestanding for election see little point in telling the voters that they are notgoing to win. That just wouldn’t make sense. Of course not. So they say theyare going to win.

That's when Candidatitis starts. Asthe 'we are going to win' is repeated time and time again itstarts to have a hypnotic effect on the person intoning the mantra. By thistime it’s too late. 

Which brings me to the second factor.  Most peopleencourage Candidatitis. Unintentionally. Not even the candidate’s best friend will say hold on,you haven't a chance. Except for the media. But no candidate believes themedia. And most candidates are never interviewed by the media anyway.

So a victim of Candidatitis will takesuccour from any friendly word from any punter. Even a 'good luck' takes on newmeaning and 'I won't forget ye' is akin to a full blooded endorsement.

 So are we to pity sufferers of this ailment? Probablynot. 

They are mostly consenting adults, although some partiesoccasionally run conscripts. In the main these are staunch party people who arepersuaded to run by more sinister elements who play on their loyalty andcommitment. In some cases these reluctant candidates run on the understandingthat they are not going to get elected. Their intervention, they are told, isto stop the vote going elsewhere or to maintain the party's representativeshare of the vote. In some cases this works. But in other cases, despiteeverything, our reluctant hero, or heroine, actually gets elected. A friend ofmine was condemned to years on Belfast City council years ago when his electioncampaign went horribly wrong. He topped the poll.

That’s another problem in elections based on proportionalrepresentation. Topping the poll is a must for some candidates. But in PRelections such ambition creates a headache for party managers. If the aimis to get a panel of party representatives elected they all have to come infairly evenly. This requires meticulous negotiations to carve upconstituencies.  Implementing such arrangements make the implementation ofthe Good Friday Agreement look easy.

It means only placing posters and distributing leaflets inspecific areas with clear instructions to the electorate on how we would likethem to vote. In some elections I have noticed that some candidates (not SinnFéin candidates folks) putting up posters in their colleagues territory.Not a good sign.

It requires an inordinate amount of discipline on thecandidates' behalf not to fall into this trap. Many do. Some don’t. Some getreally sneaky. Particularly as the day of reckoning comes closer. Panic attacksand an allergy to losing can lead to some sufferers poaching a colleague'svotes. This is a very painful condition leading to serious outbreaks ofnastiness and reprisals and recriminations if detected before polling day. Itusually cannot be treated and can have long term effects.

So dear readers all of this is by way of lifting the veil onthese problems which infect our election contests. Politicians are a muchmaligned species. In some cases not without cause.

So the next time you look at a poster or get a leaflet throughthe letterbox or are confronted at your door by a wild eyed candidate –occasionally  accompanied by a posse of cameras – then take a moretolerant and benign view of the sometimes strange behaviour of those citizenswho contest elections .

When you are accosted by a pamphlet waving candidate, asyou shop in the supermarket or collect the children at school or are mindingyour own business as you walk down the main street, try to see beyond the brashexterior. If they get carried away with themselves it’s not really theirfault you see. Big boys and girls make them do it. 

Most candidates are decent well meaning civic mindedcitizens.  It’s a pity some have awful politics. So your votes shouldnot encourage them. They will have difficulties enough dealing with defeat aswell as the outworking of Candidatitis. But they willrecover eventually. 

If they get elected they or we may never recover. Please spareus from that. 

Solidarity with Palestinian people

I want to extend my solidarity andcondolences to the Palestinian people and especially to the family of KhaderAdnan who died on the 2 May last week after 87 days on hunger strike. His deathin an Israeli prison, coming just three days before Irish republicanscommemorate and celebrate the life of Bobby Sands, was especially poignant.

As I read the reports of KhaderAdnan’s death I recalled Bobby’s words from his prison diary in which he wroteabout the battle between hunger, the lure of food and the desire for freedom. On17 March 1981 Bobby wrote: “Iwas thinking today about the hunger-strike. People say a lot about the body,but don’t trust it. I consider that there is a kind of fight indeed. Firstlythe body doesn’t accept the lack of food, and it suffers from the temptation offood, and from other aspects which gnaw at it perpetually.

Thebody fights back sure enough, but at the end of the day everything returns tothe primary consideration, that is, the mind. The mind is the most important.But then where does this proper mentality stem from? Perhaps from one’s desirefor freedom. It isn’t certain that that’s where it comes from. If they aren’table to destroy the desire for freedom, they won’t break you.” 

And so it was for Khadar Adnan. The battle betweenthe temptation for food and the demand for freedom is one that he had foughtbefore. Adnan had previously been arrested 12 times by Israel and interned. Onseveral earlier occasions he had undertaken a hunger strike, including in 2015when he was 55 days without food.

Last week the father of nine was one of more thanone thousand Palestinian internees scattered in prisons across Israel and theoccupied territories. Every day there are reports of systematic abuse byIsraeli forces against the Palestinian people.

In our time 12 republican prisoners died on hungersstrike. Others died in previous generations. This Friday as we remember FrancieHughes who was the second republican hunger striker to die in 1981 let us alsoremember those others around the world, and especially living under Israel’sapartheid system, who also struggle for freedom.

To hiswife Randa Mousa, his children and family I extend the solidarity of Irishrepublicans.

 

Gaza

As I wrote this week of the pain of thePalestinian people I recalled a visit to the west Bank and to Gaza in 2009.Three years ago I published Poems forHard Times - a short selection of poems including one that I wrote duringthat visit. It is an appropriate reminder this week of the horror of Israel’sapartheid regime.

Gaza

Rubble on rubble

Twisted metal

And ghosts

Everywhere

Ghosts of little children

Playing in the ruins

Little ghosts

Páistí bochta

Laughing

Shouting

Crying

And dying In Gaza.

 

 Gaza City 8 April 2009

Poems for HardTimes available from An Fhuiseog 55 Falls Road Béal Feirste BT12 4PD

 

Hospital in Gaza destroyed in Israeli attack

 

Republican Women negotiators: Stardust families demand truth: A CoroNation Once Again

Republican Women negotiators. 

The considerable media coverage ofthe 25 anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement frequently told the story ofthat negotiation through the words and voices of the leadership figures whoparticipated. When the role of women in the talk’s process was mentioned it wasalmost exclusively in the context of the participation of the Women’sCoalition.

While the Women’s Coalitionundoubtedly played its part the absence of any focus on the part played by themany women from the other parties did a disservice to their involvement. Duringmy contribution on the first day in the panel ‘Building Peace – the Parties’that was chaired by Ambassador Nancy Soderberg I took the opportunity to readout a list of those women comrades who were consistently part of Sinn Féin’snegotiating team. 

They included Síle Darragh, SiobhánO’Hanlon, Sue Ramsay, Dawn Doyle, Geraldine Crawford, Bríd Curran, LucilitaBhreatnach, Bairbre de Brún, Dodie McGuinness, Chrissie McAuley, Rita O’Hareand Michelle Gildernew. Mairead Keane our first North America representativebased in Washington from 1995 also played a significant role in DC and with ourIrish American allies. 

 

Stardust families demand truth

The inquest into the Stardustdisaster opened in Dublin last week. The list of the dead from that terribleevent in February 1981 is heartbreakingly long. The families of the 48 youngpeople who died have been reading poignant pen portraits of their loved onesinto the record of the inquest. All of those who were killed were aged between16 and 26. Over two hundred others were injured.

Forty two years after that appallingtragedy the Stardust families now have the opportunity, long denied them bysuccessive governments, to get to the truth of the events of that night. 

The inferno that consumed the St.Valentine’s night disco in the Stardust at Artane left scores of familiesdevastated and the communities of Artane, Coolock and Donnycarney in NorthDublin reeling from the deaths of so many young people. Over 800 people hadbeen crammed into the venue. The trauma of those communities was compounded bythe subsequent decisions of state agencies to deny the families access to thetruth of what happened that night.

Accusations emerged quickly thatDublin Corporation had failed to carry out any fire safety inspections in theStardust, which had opened in 1978 and was one of the largest of such venues inthe state. On the night of the fire there were five emergency exit doors. Thesewere padlocked and had chains attached to prevent their being opened. Metalgrilles and steel plates covered the windows. People outside the building wereunable to pull these off to help those trapped inside.

The owner, Eamon Butterly, said thatit was normal for the emergency exits to be chained. However he claimed thatthe chains were taken off on disco nights. But on the night of the disaster thechains were in place and those fleeing the fire and smoke could not escape.

A tribunal of inquiry was heldchaired by Mr Justice Ronan Keane.Despite the Tribunal determining that there were severe fire violations andthat the owner acted with reckless disregard for the safety of his customers,Butterly received £580,000 punts in compensation. Why? Becausealthough there was no evidence to support a conclusion of arson the Tribunalruled that arson was probably to blame.

The Director of Public Prosecutionsalso decided that there were insufficient grounds to take action againstButterly. No one was held accountable for what occurred. The only person evertaken to court was Christy Moore who in July 1985 was found in contempt ofcourt for his song "They Never Came Home."

He was inspired to write the songafter hearing one of the mothers in an interview use that phrase. Hissong contained the following lines:

"In a matter of secondsconfusion did reign.

The room was in darkness, fire exitswere chained…”

"Hundreds of children areinjured and maimed,

and all just because the fire exitswere chained."

In addition EamonButterly claimed that the words; “Just how the fire started, sure no-one cantell" was not accurate. The court found for Butterly andChristy’s album had to be withdrawn.

In 1985 a compensation tribunal was established. To access compensation thefamilies had to relinquish their right to pursue any further legal action. Inaddition there were two Oireachtas-appointed reports. None of these actions bythe state satisfied the families who continued to demand truth. They organisedprotests, held vigils, and lobbied the political parties. Sinn Féin supportedthe families throughout this process. 

A review (The Coffey Inquiry, 2008)ordered by the government concluded that the claim of arson was not "justifiableon the evidence". Following the publication of the report theDáil voted on 3 February 2009 to acknowledge that:  “the cause of thefire is unknown, the original finding of arson is a mere hypotheticalexplanation and is not demonstrated by any evidence and that none of thepersons present on the night of the fire can be held responsible for it.”

It is now accepted that there was noarson and that the fire originated with an electrical fault in a first floorstorage room which did not have planning permission and held dangerousflammable material, including cooking oil. Despite the clear breaches offire safety regulations, the owners never faced charges. The fact thatButterly was a friend of then Taoiseach Charles Haughey has raised consistentallegations of a cover-up.

Eventually thecampaign by the Stardust families’ resulted in 2019 in then attorney generalSéamus Woulfe ordering a new inquest. This has now opened and is expected tolast six months and to hear evidence from hundreds of witnesses. The Dublincoroner Myra Cullinane has said she will not be bound by previousfindings of past inquiries and significantly, the High Court ruled last yearthat this inquest can include 'unlawful killing' as apotential verdict.

 

ACoroNation Once Again

This column supports the decision byFirst Minister Designate  Michelle O Neill and Northern AssemblyCeann Chomairle Alex Maskey to accept the invite to attend the coronation ofthe English King Charles. They do so in their capacity as representatives ofall the people of the North. 

The vast majority of people who havetalked to me about this agree with this initiative. Others do not agree. Iwould be worried if it was not so. Republicans are against unelectedhierarchies of all kinds, including monarchies. That would be the case even if,God forbid, there was a native Irish one. Even more so that we have someoneelse’s Royals foisted on us. Or that some of us have suffered grievously,including our neighbours and friends in Ballymurphy and Derry at the hands ofBritish paratroopers. 

 So it is no surprise that somerepublicans will be discommoded by Michelle and Alex’s attendance. Oneyoung person told me it was a step too far.  But not everyone in theNorth or in the rest of Ireland is a republican. And our society is deeplydivided, not least because of English claims to jurisdiction here. 

Despite these divisions we haveagreed that the people of our island will decide the future. My clearview, and Michelle and Alex’s, is that the union should be ended. Others have adifferent view. We have to persuade them of the merits of self determination.Any sensible citizen watching the recent punishment budget announcement bythe current British Secretary of State is bound to wonder why some local politiciansembrace this arrangement. We can’t afford the Union.  Why shouldn’twe have our own tax gathering powers? Why can’t we set our own budget?

Surely it is obvious that wedon’t need an English Tory, or anyone else from England, to rule us.The cost of the union is too much. On all counts. The sooner it ends the betterfor us all. Notwithstanding the current stance of the DUP, we are wellable to govern ourselves once the shackle of English rule ends. The Good FridayAgreement referendum on the future will decide that.  Governingourselves means everyone who lives here having respect and tolerance for eachother. 

That’s what the First Minister andthe Assembly Ceann Chomairle’s acceptance of the coronation invite is about. Nomatter about their own personal and political or ideological view they areabout representing everyone as best they can. Those who expect a reciprocalgesture from the extremes of Unionism are naive.  That is not therationale for this initiative.  A First Minister for all is exactlythat. Michelle O Neill continues to hold and to act on her own republican viewsbut as First Minster Designate she is demonstrating her commitment to be aMinister for everyone.  

On this occasion she, and Alex,will represent those who have a different attitude from them tomonarchies. Including people in England. Let’s lead by example

Good neighbourliness based onequality of relationships is possible within and between the people of theseislands. 

This will truly flourish when we getto exercise our right to self determine our future. Speed the day.

 

 

Voting for the President: Agreement 25: In Praise Of Tulips: Earth Day ��� defending our natural environment

 Voting for the President

This is not the only matter that the Irish Government is failing on. Dublin Castle was the venue last week of ���Together Again ��� Le Ch��ile Ar��s��� ��� the third of the Irish government���s Global Irish Civic Forums. These events bring together representatives of the Irish diaspora from across the world to promote a conversation on issues of concern and interest to the diaspora.

Another issue of concern that has been repeatedly put on the back burner by the government for the last decade is that of voting rights in Presidential elections for Irish citizens living outside of the southern state, in the North and in the diaspora. 

Votingrights.ie is a group advocating for Presidential voting rights for Irish citizens within the diaspora. During the Global Irish Civic Forum event they raised this in a letter to the T��naiste Miche��l Martin. The group expressed its ���disappointment that a referendum granting citizens living outside the state the right to vote in future Presidential elections has been kicked to touch once again, and is now scheduled for 2025."

Votingrights.ie point out that this will mean that the earliest election these citizens could vote for the President would be 2032.

In July 2012 the Irish government established a Convention on the Constitution. Its purpose was to consider a wide range of constitutional issues and make recommendations on each matter to the Houses of the Oireachtas and to the government. In 2013 the Convention considered the proposal to give Irish citizens resident outside the state the right to vote in Presidential elections. It examined specifically whether citizens outside the state should have the vote in Presidential elections. 78% of the Convention said Yes. When specifically asked if citizens resident in the North should have that right 73% voted Yes.

The government then refused to bring forward any report to the D��il on this issue.

In November 2015, following criticism by the European Commission, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs recommended extending voting rights. In February 2018 An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told the Seanad that the referendum would be held within two years. In October of that year he announced that a referendum would be held in May 2019. Later that date was shifted back to October 2019. Varadkar���s proposal was that all citizens, wherever they live in the world, ���will be entitled to register to vote for the next President.��� It would be a postal ballot for those not living in the state. In September 2019 the government published the Presidential Voting Right Referendum legislation. However, to-date the referendum still hasn���t happened.

The Office of the President and the role of the Presidency in the day to day life of the Irish nation is hugely symbolic and important. It is now ten years since the Constitutional Convention voted in favour of a referendum on Presidential voting. It���s time the Irish government honoured its commitments. Well done to Votingrights.ie for raising this important issue.

Agreement25

Thethree days of the conference to mark Agreement 25 at Queens University, aquarter of a century after the Good Friday Agreement, was an opportunity tomeet again many of those who were there when the Agreement was thrashed out in1998. I was particularly happy to see George Mitchell. He was in great form andfor me his speech was the highlight of conference. Lucid, reasoned, futuringand compelling. 

Theabsence of John Hume, Ian Paisley, Martin McGuinness, David Trimble, SeamusMallon and David Irvine and others was a reminder of the transient nature oflife and the permanency of death.  

QUBdid a great job of putting together this event. It must have been a logisticalchallenge but it worked. Victims of the conflict undoubtedly deserved a morecentral place on the agenda and I was disappointed at the lack of Irishlanguage signage or content. These are matters which can be improved by QUB inthe time ahead. But thank you and well done to all involved. 

Lookingback twenty five years from Sinn F��in���s perspective was interesting. TheGood Friday Agreement is the most important political initiative in over 100years. Some of the key elements of the Agreement have still not beenimplemented by the British and Irish governments, in particular the Bill ofRights for the North and the Charter of Rights for the island, and theestablishment of the Civic Forum. Twenty five years later these are stillnecessary parts of the Agreement that require action.

TheGFA was/is an agreement on a journey without agreement on the destination. Forsome it is about maintaining the union with Britain. For others it���s a pathwayto a united Ireland. Ultimately it is for the people to decide democratically.And that presents Irish republicans with a major challenge. We have to persuadethose who are either opposed to Irish Unity or ambivalent on it that theirfuture will be best served in a united Ireland. We have to convince those whoare British that their culture, their rights and sense of Britishness, will beprotected within a new Ireland, within the European Union. 

Ibelieve we can do that. I believe that an Irish government taking a pro-activeunited Ireland stance, along with our many friends and allies internationally,can successfully chart a course to that new Ireland.

Wealso have to get the Assembly and the Executive back up and running. Anyonelistening to the panel discussions at Queens will have been encouraged by theunanimity of approach by the Irish, British and US governments; the leaders ofthe European Union; and critically by all of the parties ��� with the exceptionof the DUP. All want the institutions back in place. Speaker after speaker ���and frequently to loud applause ��� made this very clear. Uachtar��n Shinn F��inMary Lou McDonald spoke of the need ���recreate the spirit of 1998. Weneed a renewed commitment from all political leaders that we will worktogether, that we will share power together and that we have a government thatwill work in the interests of everyone.���

Sotoo did George Mitchell who challenged the ���currentand future leaders of Northern Ireland to act with courage and vision, as theirpredecessors did 25 years ago.���

For the last year the DUP have absented themselvesfrom the institutions. It is my firm view that they will return to the NorthernAssembly. But I don't know when. And I think it���s foolish to speculate aboutthis. Our time is better spent persuading, or trying to persuade the twogovernments to convene the British -Irish Intergovernmental  Conference.So far An Taoiseach has refused to do this. Why not Leo? 

 

In Praise Of Tulips. 

I bought a bag of assorted tulip bulbs beforeChristmas. I was looking for daffodils and picked up the tulips by mistake.When I discovered this I was disappointed. I love daffodils. Now I love tulipsas well. They are in full bloom. In pots. Beautiful bright colours. Pinks andreds. Mauve. Purple. White. Gladdening the eye and brightening my day. I willnever look down my nose at tulips again. I can���t wait to plant next yearstechnicolour bloom. Along with the daffodils.

 

Earth Day ��� defending ournatural environment

Last Saturday was EarthDay. The theme was ���Invest in Our Planet��� with the emphasis on encouragingbusinesses and people to use sustainable practices in their everyday work.

The first Earth Day tookplace in April 1970 in the USA. The massive oil spill at Santa Barbara inCalifornia in January 1969 and the student anti-Vietnam war movement were thecatalysts. Twenty years later the event went global and hundreds of millionsparticipated and set the scene for the 1992 United Nations EarthSummit in Rio de Janeiro.

Today Earth Day is more important than ever. Thisis evident from the report published last month by the Intergovernmental Panel onClimate Change (IPCC) ��� the body that advises the UN and governments. In verystark terms it delivered a ���final warning��� about the climate crisis facing theworld. 

Ant��nio Guterres, the UN secretary general,described the IPCC report as a ���clarion call to massively fast-track climateefforts by every country and every sector and on every timeframe. Our worldneeds climate action on all fronts: everything, everywhere, all at once.���

In December the leaders of the world���s nations willgather in COP28 in Dubai to assess progress since the Paris Agreement and agreeon the ambitious climate plans needed to avert the climate disaster that islooming.

Ant��nio Guterres has warned that these plans must ���cover the entire economy.Partial pledges won���t cut it��� We have never been better equipped to solve theclimate challenge ��� but we must move into warp speed climate action now. Wedon���t have a moment to lose.���

Heis right. We need an Executive in the North and a government in Dublin thatunderstand that climate action must be a priority now and an all-islandagreement on how best to achieve that.